Chicago sunrise
One of those nights, a late night. Bright lights, new friends, a night we never wanted to end.
My dance partner and I, we found ourselves by Chicago’s North Avenue beach at 5.30 am on Sunday morning. Camera in hand.
I paused every two minutes to capture the beauty of the moment. A photographer was waiting under the tree as the first creeping light peeked from the horizon aiming for the Chicago city skyline.
We were open with each other. Both of us had nothing to lose. Both open to connect. He and I weren’t the same but he hadn’t realised it yet. I hadn’t made a point of it, and I was willing to see the night through without barriers between us two.
Why not have a little fun? We had supplies. Everything we might need until the next day. Water, smoothie, jackets, my boom box, an iPod, blanket, inflatable mattress, food. Definitely overkill, but I’m always over-prepared. Prepared to be glared off the beach when the ‘normal’ people go for their early morning doggie walks and see the crazies still partying from the night before.
We found a spot on the peninsula and set up. He looked too good in my yellow rain jacket so I had to get a photo. I cant tell if its just the memory or if it is actually a good photograph but when I see this picture I cant help but to smile.
‘what do you think about, metaphorically, in regards to life when you think about the sunrise?’, I asked him.
‘what do you mean?’, was his reply.
‘I mean, like, I see it as a metaphor for birth and death in a specific sense. I was just wondering if you have ever thought about it in that way?’
He thought for a long time.
‘I think the start of the day could be thought of as a birth, sure. But I really feel as though death is way too dark to be used to describe the sunset. Why do you think that death is a good metaphor for the sunset?’
‘I don’t actually see it in that way. I see it in a different sense of birth and death in relation to how beautiful each is and how the sun tracks across the sky. I understand how you thought about it just now, but if you want I can explain to you how I have always thought of it’.
Pre sunrise, the anticipation. The excitement leading up to the beginning of the day, and all the possibilities the day brings. I can only just grasp the edges of how much anticipation and excitement I would feel prior to giving birth, but in the same sense that beautiful little human who is about to experience the world with a clean slate, where absolutely anything is possible bears some similarity to the sunrise for me. Then the sunrise itself. Drinking the beauty in with my eyes, absolutely breathtaking. The sky has a graduated glow and then all of a sudden, the crescent edge of the sun peeks around the corner of the earth. And each time it feels like the first time – it feels like you have never seen anything so bright ever before in your entire life. The sunrise is so captivating, all encompassing. When out in the elements, witnessing such a spectacle, it is impossible to look away. I imagine birth would have the same effect. And then the sun tracks slowly across the sky, like a metaphor for life. 7 am, child. 9 am, teenage years – the sky is fully bright. The shadows have disappeared and everything is starting to be revealed, but there is still so much more of the day to come. Then the sun reaches the highest point, the sunrise a distant memory. We are right in the middle of things now, so much has been achieved, and yet we still have half of our time left. During the middle of the day it is not quite as beautiful and fresh as earlier on, but the light is strong and we sure as hell aren’t slowing down. Then, slowly, in the afternoon, the light starts to weaken, the sun isn’t as strong, as warm or as bright. Towards the end of the day shadows start to appear, and we can’t help but to think about all the things we hadn’t yet had the chance to complete. In the late afternoon we rush to get everything done, to make the most of the sunlight hours left. Daylight is waning, and we can feel a cold bite on the wind. We are nearing the end of the day, the finality of a life. But the sunset! The brilliant golden orange and bright pink clouds against a deep purple sky. A worthy finality, mi alma. Absolutely magnificent. The most spectacular celebration of the brilliance of the day, rolled onto one sweet, but touchingly short moment, like a celebration of a bright life, well lived.
I explained my vision to him and he had tears in his eyes as he told me about his grandfather who is dying. He had been trying to look at the situation positively but was failing. Maybe he could see a different perspective now.
I suggested that maybe we had met for a reason.
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3<3 <3 <3 <3
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